GREENFIELD — It was now or never for the Greenfield-Central Cougars. On the verge of plunging deeper into the lower half of the Hoosier Heritage Conference standings, they clawed back into the race at home Friday night.
The Class 4A Cougars swept 3A No. 9 Yorktown 12-0 in five innings and 6-0 to cap their home doubleheader at Molinder Field, pulling back to .500 in the HHC.
“We had a sense of urgency tonight coming out at 1-3 in the conference. We wanted to step up and get a big win,” Greenfield-Central senior outfielder Tyler Mundell said. “We’re 3-3, and we’re right back in it.”
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The Cougars lost at Perry Meridian 15-4 on Monday and had dropped two of their past three, including their third straight HHC matchup.
Both wins pushed their overall record to 5-6 with eight more HHC games to go and several key doubleheaders the rest of the way, including against front-runner New Palestine.
Hall tosses no-hitter
The Cougars opened the first game with a dominating showing at the plate and on the mound.The Greenfield-Central lineup produced 14 hits — seven extra-base knocks — and Tate Hall turned in a five-inning no-hitter for the win.
“In the first inning, we jumped all over them. We got hits when we needed to get hits,” Greenfield-Central head coach Robbie Miller said. “In prior games, we had runners in scoring position and couldn’t come through.”
The Cougars took advantage of nearly every situation against Yorktown starter Brady Horine, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. They hung a crooked number on the scoreboard during a six-run second frame with a two-run home run from Spencer Hert.
Hert was 2-for-3 with four RBIs. His first two runs driven in came off a double in the first inning as the Cougars worked for four hits and a walk to load the bases in their first trips to the box.
“In the first inning, we had a senior come up (Tyler Mundell) and we hadn’t had anything yet, and we got a double,” Miller said. “Then we got a double after that (by Hert) and got the momentum.
“In the second inning, we kept at it. We didn’t settle.”
Mundell drove in a three runs, hitting 2-for-3 with a two-run double in the first inning. Landen Davis finished with an RBI and Tyler Farrell was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice RBI fly out to center field.
Hall helped his own cause with an RBI double in the second and the Cougars plated a run in both the third and fourth innings.
“Seeing Tate on the mound gave us a little better approach. It made us want to come out and give him the support he needed because he was pitching a great game,” Mundell said.
Hall struck out seven batters to collect his first win of the year off his no-hit performance. Yorktown only had two base runners, one from and error and the other on a walk.
The lefty was 0-3 in his first three starts and carried a 4.54 ERA until his near perfect game against Yorktown.
“Tate threw the ball really well. He’s thrown well all year,” Miller said. “In other games, he’s only made one bad pitch. Tonight, he kept the ball down, and he wasn’t trying to do too much. Plus, we were making good plays behind him.”
Jameson keeps going
In the Cougars’ last home stand against Delta, junior Drey Jameson ruled the night to give his team a doubleheader split.In the finale Friday, the Cougars’ ace seized the spotlight again for the sweep.
Pitted against Yorktown ace pitcher Jake Clawson, a fellow Ball State recruit, Jameson outdueled his counterpart, tossing a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts. He had 15 strikeouts in the last home start against Delta and hit a grand slam.
At the plate, the right-hander went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, but on the mound is where he did his most damage.
Jameson, who verbally committed to the Cardinals, pitched a complete game for his second win of the season. He retired the last 15 batters he faced after giving up two hits the first two innings.
He walked just won batter and pushed his strikeout total to 43 in 23 1/3 innings this season.
“I have really high expectations for Tate, and he did a really good job tonight, so we just fed off of what he did when we got to the second game,” Jameson said. “I like (Clawson), but we battled against each other. It’s good competition.”
The Cougars bats put a run on the board every inning but the first and sixth. They built a 4-0 lead after the fifth and scored two more in the seventh before Jameson sealed it with a swift catch on comeback line drive and two strikeouts.
Farrell and Nick Atwood each drove in one run. Drew McDowell had two RBIs and was 2-for-3. Braxton Turner and Farrell both added doubles as the Cougars scored two runs off wild pitches by Clawson.
“They thought they were going to come in here and walk all over us,” Jameson said. “It was good to get a good jump the first game. These are good wins.”
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Game 1
Greenfield-Central 12, Yorktown 0
YHS (6-3, 4-3 HHC);000;00;—;0;0;1
GCHS (4-6, 2-3 HHC);461;1x;—;12;13;1
WP: Tate Hall (GC). LP: Brady Horine (YHS)
HR: Spencer Hert. 2B: Tyler Mundell 2, S. Hert, Tate Hall, Drey Jameson, Braxton Turner.
Notables: Hall 5.0 IP, 7 K, BB, 0 Hits.
Game 2
Greenfield-Central 6, Yorktown 0
GCHS (5-6, 3-3 HHC);011;110;2;—;6;7;0
YHS (6-4, 4-4 HHC);000;000;0;—;0;2;2
WP: Drey Jameson (GC) LP: Jake Clawson (YHS)
Notables: Jameson 2 hits, 12 K, BB, 2-3; Tyler Farrell RBI, 1-3, 2B; Nick Atwood RBI; Braxton Turner 1-3, 3B, two runs; Drew McDowell 2-3, 2 RBI (GCHS)
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